Improved fixing for puddling-furnaces



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

HUGH MCDONALD, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

lMPROVED FlXING FOR PUDDLING-FURNACES.

Specification forming part of Letters PatentNo. 50,483, dated October 17. 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IIUGII McDoNALD, of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improved Fixing for Puddling-Furnaces; and I do hereby declare the following t? be a full, clear, and exact description there- 0 My improvement consists in the mode of preparing and applying the fixing, whereby I iam enabled to effect a great saving in time and It is well known that paddling-furnaces need to be lined at the sides and boshed with somematerial to prevent their rapidly burning out,'and the material thus'uscd is called the fixing! For this fixing the materials ordinarily used are cinder or iron ore and scrap-iron, first par- :tially melted or softened in the furnace, and

' the furnace. The mode otlprqparing and applying this fixing'is as follows: The iron ore to be used for fixing is first broken up to the size of walnuts or larger, and is then placed in the bottom of the working-chamber of the furnace with scrap-iron or cinder mixed with it. The furnace is then allowed to heat up for from two to five hours, in order partially to melt and soften the iron or cinder. '\Vhen suificiently soft and plastic the furnace-door is opened and the fixing is pushed with a proper tool up against the boshcs and sides of the furnace, so as to cover the parts which need protection. During the time which is employed'in softening the fixing the furnace cannot be used for the purpose of puddlin g, and the time required to soften the ore and scrap is lost to the workman, besides which at least ten bushels of coal are consumed in the heating of the fur- -nace' during the process of preparing the fixing, and as this is only done when parts of the furnace are exposed and need protection, it is manifest that the furnace .is liable to be burned and injured by exposure to the heat during this time. I

By my improved mode or preparing and applying the fixing not only'are these difficulties entirely obviated, but my improved fixing is more durable and better than that in ordinary use. I prepare my fixing without the use of scrap or any other article which requires to be melted or softened by heat before being applied. The article which I use is any description of iron ore which may be gronndnp finesuch as the Lake Superior ore or Missouri ore, the former kind being preferable-to which I sometimes add fire-clay or powdered charcoal or powdered coke, if found desirable, for the reason hereinafter stated.

To enable others skilled in the art to make use of my invention will proceed to describe it more fully.

As just stated, 1 use any kind of iron ore which is susceptible of being ground fine, and

whicl1,when mixed with water,will stick together and form a pasty mass; but the red ores such as that known as Lake Superior orewill, I think, be found best suited-for the purpose. The ore is pounded or ground to powder, and is then mixed with a sufficient quantity of water to make a pasty mass of about the consistency of dough. If any other substance is used with the ore-such as tire clay, coke, or. charconl-it is also first powdered and mixed with ore.

The fixing thus prepared does not need to be melted or even heated before being applied to the furnace. The mode of using it is as follows: As soon as the balls of metal are removed from the working-chamber of the puddling-furnace,and while the chamberis yethet, the fixing, in the shape of pasty lumps, prepared as before described, is applied by the workman with a proper tool directly to the part tool he is using.

As some descriptions of ore may be less inclined to adhere together and may more easily crack when appliedin the furnace than others,

I mix with the ore, when making the fixing, a

little tire-clay or a small quantity of coke-dust The use of iron ore in its raw or nnmclted stute previously ground fine and mixed into a thick paste or dough with water, as u fixing for puddling or boiling furnaces, and used in the manner substantially as hcreinhetorc described. r

In testimony whereof I, the said llUG-I-I Mc- DONALI), have hereunto set/my hand in presences oi'uitnesses.

HUGH MCDONALD.

Witnesses:

ALLAN G. BAKEWEILL, W. D. LEWIS. 

